The president (not ours) Tweets during Pablo Sandoval’s fourth AB in Game 1

Pablo Sandoval giving bat he used to hit two home runs off the Tigers' Justin Verlander, to Hall of Fame representative Brad Horn after Game 1 of the World Series. (Courtesy/San Francisco Giants)

After he hit three home runs in Game 1, Pablo Sandoval grabbed his phone and saw 300 congratulatory text messages, with many more on Twitter. They came from all corners, from Dodgers center fielder Matt Kemp to Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez, whom Sandoval has not met.

The Chavez tweet impressed the Panda.

“When I was hitting the fourth at-bat he was like, ‘I’m just going to say congratulations to Pablo, but I’m going to see the fourth homer right now,’ so that was funny,” Sandoval said.

Whether Chavez pounded his fist on the table when Sandoval only singled is not a matter of public record.

Giants catcher Hector Sanchez did not get a celebratory message from Chavez when he hit three home runs in a game for Class A San Jose last season. Sanchez shook his head as Sandoval was talking to reporters in the clubhouse after Game 1 and said, “I felt great when I hit three home runs in San Jose. I can’t imagine how Pabo feels right now.

Tigers first baseman Prince Fielder grudingly called Sandoval’s performance in a World Series game “incredible.” Kemp, who works out at the same Arizona facility as Sandoval, Tweeted, “Wow. That’s all I can say.”

When a player who hit 12 home runs all season puts on a literally Ruthian display of power in a World Series game, questions naturally follow. The biggest are “how” and why?”

Sandoval traces his improvement, which began in September, to regaining strength in his left hand after undergoing surgery to remove his fractured hamate bone.

A hitter needs to let his hands do the work. When they can’t, he tries to compensate by lunging at pitches to derive power. That usually has the opposite effect. Sandoval has done a better job staying back on pitches. He can see them longer and therefore react better.

“I knew the stregnth was going to come back,” Sandoval said. “It came back at the right time.”

Indeed, Sandoval carried a .370 average and 1.164 OPS over the 13 postseason games into Game 2. He still has a way to go to catch Babe Ruth, whose OPS in 41 World Series games was 1.211.